A New Series on Spiritual Disciplines

Spiritual Practice                                  Fasting

Sunday, we begin a new series on spiritual disciplines.  One of the most neglected and important in our culture is fasting.  We simply don't find value in depriving ourselves.  We want what we want when we want it.  NOW!  I call it the adolescence of our culture.   Historically, it makes some sense.  We are a fairly new nation.  We were born out of fierce ideas of freedom and religious practice and holiness but have drifted far from those original goals due to a variety of factors including material abundance, national power, Manifest Destiny (that's a whole other issue) and narcissism.  
      We are not alone in these struggles.  As I review history,  it is apparent that no culture has been able to overcome their excesses.   But there are ways to be countercultural that enable greater health and abundance, yes, abundance.   It seems that we must deny ourselves in order to truly achieve what we desire.  We know this, but resist it.
     For years,  I wanted to be thinner.  But I wanted to be able to eat everything I wanted.   I prayed, nearly nightly: God, make me skinny.  But I would get up the next day and and not plan a healthy meal, starve myself hoping the pounds would melt off, then binge because I could not stand the deprivation any longer.   My weight changed when I began to plan to feed my hunger with healthful foods.  It changed when I eliminated the things that were triggering cravings, which for me, is gluten, sugar, rice and potatoes.   Each of us has a different trigger.  Knowing them, and taking them out of your life is not deprivation but freedom.
     Fasting is not a dietary cure.  It will not make you thinner long term.  But it can change your relationship to food, taking it off the pedestal and putting God back in the rightful place.  I invite you to consider the practice, get a physical and your doctor's approval, and see if denying yourself something can change your relationship to needs, wants, and God's provisions.  Feed on Scripture as you fast.
God Speed.

Some notes:

Named the most powerful spiritual discipline
Counter cultural
Why abstain?
      Promotes humility, discipline, gratitude, attention, focus, mindfulness, health

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."   II Chronicles 7:14

Did fasting help Jesus endure the temptation? Perhaps it was not the temptation itself but an aid in spiritual battle.

-Luke 4:2 For forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.
-Luke 18:12  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
-Acts 13:2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them
-Acts 14:23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
-Joel 2:12  “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning
-Daniel 10:3: I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks.
-Nehemiah 1:4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Fasting will:
Cleanse, detox, and allow your digestion to rest while changing your eating patterns.  This break allows you to review and reflect on how you are caring for your body,  the Temple of God's Holy Spirit.  This process aids in greater mental clarity and focus.  It also helps reveal places where you have emotional struggles and patterns that need to be re-patterened.  It can lead to an experience of physical lightness and greater energy.  While enhancing your spiritual connection, you can experience inner stillness and attention.
     Foods can drug us from real feelings.  Fasting may be a very intense experience where old hurts and struggles are revealed.  It is important to have resources available to help you through these challenging aspects.  

http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/6999 
http://www.cru.org/training-and-growth/devotional-life/personal-guide-to-fasting/03-how-to-fast-safely.htm

Fasting can include abstaining from food, caffeine, chocolate, criticism, electronics and many other things.

Diabetics, people with organ problems, pregnant or nursing mothers, cancer patients, those with bleeding ulcers, heart disease, and many other challenges should not fast.  Always have a current physical and doc’s supervision and approval.